Junction Point studio closed by Disney

Employees of the Warren Spector-led Junction Point Studios were informed by Disney that due to changes in the company’s Games organization, the studio would be closed. This studio, based in Austin, Texas, was most recently responsible for the releases of Disney Epic Mickey and Disney Epic Mickey 2. (According to what we have been able to uncover, the recently released Disney Epic Mickey 2 only sold 270,000 copies in the first month in North America on multiple platforms, and this is compared to the 1.3 million that the first Epic Mickey sold in the first month for the Wii only.)

The closing of Junction Point follows a path of wreckage that has seen Disney close studio after studio. Propaganda Games, Black Rock Studios, and now Junction Point have been closed as Disney has struggled to find commercial success for the titles produced by these studios. Disney has seemed to always struggle marketing more mainstream titles and has not been that successful doing so, which has resulted in all of these studio closures, despite the positive reviews of many of the titles produced by these studios.

Disney declined to disclose the number of people at Junction Point that will be affected by the closure of the studio, but at one point Junction Point employed over 150 people. Sources have indicated to us that Warren Spector is not being offered another position within Disney and that he will be departing the company; but so far there has been no official confirmation from Spector himself.